Black Coffee

Brazil was calling my name. I needed to visit for the purposes of pilgrimage: the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu had evolved there over the last few decades, and I wanted to visit Mecca.

Here’s me describing this first visit:

This trip to Brazil was certainly an adventure, but it was much more like an introduction for me. We were only there for 2 weeks (“only” sounds kind of crazy, but more than half of our time and energy was devoted to getting ready for, competing in, and observing that tournament).

In spite of this whirlwind visit and my limited focus, I was able to drink the culture in… literally. Among the drinks I tried were icons of Brazil like the caipirinha—cachaça, lime, and sugar over crushed ice; Guaraná branded soda; various types of açaí beverages.

A pic I took while on that first trip. This is Rio, but I’m not sure which beach—sorry!

My Portuguese language skills were extremely limited, and I knew how to say café preto (black coffee), so that’s what I got when I ordered coffee. I was a coffee drinker, but I put cream in every cup back then. Necessity is the mother of experimentation!

This was the only café preto I would have for another 14 years. I found my footing and figured out how to ask for my coffee com leite, and when I went back to the US I just picked my normal routine back up.

Fast forward to another overseas trip, this time to Italy. I’ve realized that having milk in my coffee is less than ideal. For one thing, it’s probably a hair healthier not to add milk to my coffee. Besides, it’s an extra step to have to take—if you have milk at home, you add it to your coffee, but if you’re out in the wild and just order a cup, you can’t always find milk so easily.

I resolved to drink only black coffee while visiting Italy, largely for reasons of simplicity. I was a fan of espresso—strong black coffee in shot format—and I knew I could order these for one or two Euros each while on long walks in Rome. This sounded amazing, and finding American-style coffee and milk seemed tedious.

I further resolved to continue drinking only black coffee if I enjoyed it and didn’t really miss the milk.

I didn’t miss it, and the rest is delicious history.

Have you ever changed a lifetime habit while traveling? If so, I want to hear all about how you did it in the comments while I’m sipping on my next cup of black coffee.